Astronaut Chris Hadfield collected NASA memorabilia, National Geographic charts and postage stamps when he was a kid, but never trading cards. And, certainly, he never imagined himself depicted on one. He didn't start out as much of a reader, either. But now the 45-year-old mechanical engineer, jet pilot, poet and musician finds himself pictured on the front of a trading card promoting reading.

"I never looked at a trading card and thought 'Someday I'm going to have my picture on one of these,'" Hadfield said. "Absolutely not. That is a stature and a status I never thought I'd obtain."

But he and Canada's other five astronauts have achieved just that as part of a children's summer reading program in libraries across the country.

pokey

If anyone knows how I can get my hands on a few sets...

poolman18

I am working on it as we speak.

Mike Isbell

By my count eight astronauts from Canada have flown on the shuttle. Which two astronauts are not going to be on the trading cards?

Robert Pearlman

My understanding is that they are only being issued for the active members of the CSA corps: Chris Hadfield, Dave Williams, Bjarni Tryggvason, Bob Thirsk, Julie Payette and Steve MacLean

KSCartist

If anyone can obtain a complete set of the Canadian cards for me I will trade my duplicates of the old Man on the Moon cards from the 60's and 70's. I also have some dupes of the Space Shots.

TrueNorth

I'll see what I can do, but first you're going to have to read 50 books this summer.

KSCartist

If they're all as short as the "Dick & Jane" books of my childhood-no problem.